"The bigger 284 is usually done before 5500, it will probably have no issue making 500 HP, but there are better cams."

I've witnessed dyno runs with both the XE274 and XE284 cams in 455 engine builds. Both of the engines were well prepared, good pistons, rods, "ported" factory iron heads, etc.

The 455 using the XE 274 cam was topped with 6X heads, mildly ported, factory intake, and they borrowed my carb for the testing. It cranked out a whopping 412hp and DONE by 4800rpm's. The peak torque number was decent, over 500ft lbs, happened at 3200rpm's but clear down to 414 ft lbs at 4900rpm's, which simply means it's a "turd" in the upper mid-range and top end and threw all it's power at you in a very narrow RPM range.

I had no input in the 455 that used the XE 284 cam, we didn't even know what cam was in it the day of the testing, it was just in line in front of me and they couldn't get chit of power out of it, so we watched for hours as they messed with it trying to get decent numbers.

Most pulls were barely 400hp and it never did hit 500tq. It was using ported 7K3 heads, Street Dominator single plane intake and 850cfm carb. They finally settled on 430hp and nudged a little over 500tq out of it.

I thought the numbers for both builds were "low" for the combination of parts, but they were on the same dyno I use, same operator, etc. Matter of fact my first 455 with 6X heads, iron intake, q-jet etc went on the dyno right after the XE284 cammed 455 and cranked out 455.4 hp on the first pull and 530tq..........

I don’t understand why, especially with flat hydraulic cams, that cam companies don’t sell “broken in” sets of cam and lifters. Seems like if you devised a simple set up with an old block, a strong electric motor, a good oil pump and adequate valve spring pressure it wouldn’t be that hard to do [emoji2369]

Nothing more nerve wracking than firing up a totally brand new motor knowing that if you don’t get it fired and spinning 2000+ rpm right away that you could wipe a cam lobe and are now facing all of the related hassle and expense that causes. Just a thought.


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I bought the XE274H together with a bunch of engine parts with advice from Ken Keefer in 2005.
Maybe it was all 'the rage' in that year , I don't know.

All I know is that I'm swapping out more parts then i'd like to for this build.
But hé . . . live and learn ! :)

You’ll get action a whole lot faster if you call them. Tim is busy but good to work with.


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Tim Goolsby. Worked with Harold Brookshire for 21 years at UltraDyne.

https://www.bulletcams.com/

Two Master lists in that link, UltraDyne lobes and Bullet lobes.



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You're probably right , but don't forget I'm Dutch and english is not my first language.
So calling somebody about technical info on a cam and car , is going to be to much of a improvisation on my part and can be a ground for mistakes.
And that is what I like to avoid , being that I'm on the other side of the ocean and this hobby is already very expensive because of that.

Emails give you time to think about stuff.

Understood about the language challenges, but I would try calling and even if you tell him “Please read my email so we don’t make mistakes“ it might get you your cam faster. Your english and Tim’s southern drawl should make for a very interesting call, haha.


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It shouldn’t be a problem doing the cam by email with Bullet, it will just take some extra time. I have a friend that runs a machine shop that mainly does cams via email. Often he goes with the company that replies first. Bullet seems to take longer than some other companies for a reply.

There is a cam core shortage over here and everything with cams generally takes longer than normal. Sometimes you can get lucky and the wait isn’t too bad.

I was on the phone with Tim at Bullet a few years ago and he had just finished working on a cam change for a Top Fuel team somewhere in the Middle East. They send cams all over the world.

With cam core shortages in mind, a year ago I called Tim at Bullet Racing Cams and they had no blank cores on hand with the specific Pontiac journal diameter. However they did have some new cams already made on hand that could be re-ground under some circumstances. They have hundreds of lobes to offer and could come close in the specs desired, enough so you could not tell the difference once installed in the engine.

About that time frame I sent a old Pontiac solid roller cam to Tim that they previously made for me. It was slightly damaged on one lobe. I had him regrind it to another profile, the cost was $157 plus fright.
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I got a HR from Tim last year and all they had were 4/7 swap billet cores:

Grind # PO 291/296HR112+4
Has 236/241 at .050
.3823 lobe lift on both sides
112 lobe separation 108 intake centerline
4/7 swap firing order
Lobe # HR291/.3823 intake HR296/.3823B exhaust

SD-Performance doesn't list cams on their website anymore.
Still no answer to the email.

So I guess Old Faithfull is no longer an option.
Jeeezzz , I'd never figured that switching to another cam would be this hard.

Neither do I here from Bullet , where I filled out the cam recommendation form.
They took that form offline !

maybe try calling or resend the email indicating you are ready to purchase? i got a reply from dave a couple months ago asking some tech questions but as usual he is very busy dealing with backlogs & the landslide they had last fall.

i see a note saying they arent taking on any new work at the moment but the link for cams is still available... if they are in stock is another story though.

http://www.sdperformance.com/listPro...p?categoryID=2

Weird !?
 

That's weird ,

your link works , but if I open their site from my end . . . no cams !

Are they not taking international orders maybe ?

yes i dont see cams or other parts listed on the main website, but the link i got from googling SD performance shows his cams.

try & call a couple more times to see if you can reach them, & leave a message or email that you are ready to buy a cam if they have them in stock. the backlog of cams & auto parts right now may be why SD stopped advertising cams, plus the landslide they had & being backed up on work isnt helping.

On his web site:

WE ARE WORKING IN THE SHOP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WITH A FOCUS ON CATCHING UP ON EXISTING JOBS. WE ARE NOT TAKING ON ANY NEW WORK UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE AS OUR PRIORITY IS TO CATCH UP AND GET OUR CYLINDER HEAD BUILD SCHEDULE BACK ON TRACK AS WELL AS DEAL WITH REPAIRS AND CLEANUP ON OUR PROPERTY AFTER BEING HIT BY A LANDSLIDE LAST FALL. THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING, WE HOPE TO BE TAKING NEW ORDERS LATER THIS FALL.

****PLEASE DO NOT SHIP OR MAIL ANYTHING TO EITHER OF OUR SUMAS WA ADDRESSES****

If Dave is not shipping cams at this time there is no reason why the 'Old Faithful' cam cannot not be ground at any Comp dealer. It is nothing more than a custom cam with these specs using High Lift Magnum lobes:

Part # 51-00-9 or a -11 depending on the core availability at the time.

Comp grind number P8 3122B / 3120B HR112.0

Rated 289 / 306 at .006" tappet lift
236 / 245 at .050"
112 LS / 108 ICL
Lobe lift .3800" and .3830"

It would be ground on a steel billet core. Under some circumstances ordering with a "B" suffix code after the lobe number can, but not always, alter the lobe lift by an additional 0.001"


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my local shop did just that for a friend of mines engine a couple years ago, SD didnt reply to him in enough time so he just had comp make a copy of it.

does comp have cam cores available right now for custom grinds?